Enzo Birk 75: scandinavian EDC folder

Hi there,

past weeks I had the chance to try a nice folding knife, the Enzo Birk 75

The Birk 75 I tested is the 2602 Model, with CPM S30V steel blade, G10 scales and full flat grind. 

There are several other versions of the Birk 75, with D2 steel, different scales materials, scandi grind, and you may find all here https://www.brisa.fi/portal/index.php?option=com_oscommerce&osMod=index&cPath=119_244

Specs of the knife (from Brisa internet site):

Length: 176/105 mm Weight: 95 g Blade length: 75 mm Blade thickness: 3 mm Steel: D2 or CPM S30 V Grind: Scandi (Sc) or Flat (F) Finish: Satin

Lock: Linerlock Frame : Stainless 1.2 mm Clip: Stainless Washers: Bronze Screws: Torx 6 . Pivot Torx 8 Bolster (B): Titanium 6-4 Scales: Interchangeable

FIRST FEELINGS (score 7,2/10) 

Let's go to the business. The Birk 75 is a nice, handy pocket knife. At least I had it in my hands, I appreciate particularly the clean design, the light weight, the overall quality. My knife was razor sharp straight out of the box. No blade play at all, both vertically and horizontally. Opening the blade, the liner lock engage nicely the talon. Good comfortability when handled, the measures are just right for my hands. The G10 scales are nicely smooth, the pocket clip seems not to be so uncomfortable in the palm. In summary, very good impressions so far; we'll see how the Birk 75 perform on the field test.

CARRYING THE KNIFE (score 7,6/10)

The Birk 75 it's an easy to carry knife, being lightweight and having a well designed pocket clip. The pocket clip is robust, and placed for deep pocket carry, which I like, because the knife almost disappear when at the pocket. The knife is easy to pull out, picking it with the thumb and the index finger.

CUTTING FOOD (score 7,2/10)

The Birk 75 is the classic EDC (Every Day Carry) knife. This means that you should use it several times to cutting food, as I done. I must say is easy to cut different knid of ffods with the Birk 75: bread, vegetables, meat, fruit, all without problems, thansk to the razor blade and the full flat grind. More, the open construction is ideal to clean easily the knife just under some waterflow and or paper.

CUTTING CARDBOARD, ROPES, PLASTIC (score 6,7/10)

I have used the Birk 75 for to cut all the above materials. As a pocket EDC knife, in fact, you should cut boxes, bottles, packaging ecc. ecc. almost daily. The Birk 75 is good enough, but not the best I tried on these tasks, in fact the full flat blade seems to be "blocked" by cardboard and plastic, and the straight blade is razor sharp but not "microserrated" as would be the best to cut ropes. Anyway, I'm not saying the knife isn't good, in fact is it. Just I wasn't astonished by him working these materials.  

CARVING AND WORKING WOOD, MAKING FIRE STUFFS (score 7,5/10) 

The Birk 75 it's a very good knife to carve wood and to make feathers for a camp fire. The handle allows for a great pressure when you need to carve any kind of wood, and the straight blade it's great to make feathers. The tip of the blade seems to be not so robust, but I carved several holes in dry hard wood without any problems. 

MAKING STUFFS (score 7,2/10)

Being Halloween these days, I made a Jack O' Lantern for the kids of our best friends. The Birk 75 is a very veratile knife, the straight tip it's great for these kind of stuffs, and the pocket size it's just right. I had a lot of fun, also if the result is not so good :-) 

HOLDING THE EDGE AND RESHARPENING (score 6,9/10)
The Birk 75 hold a knife fairly well, and is easy enough to resharpen. I was expecting more form the CPM S35V, especially regarding the durability of the edge, so I was a bit dsappointed. Anyway, after a few resharpening, the edge is again razor sharp, so at the end of the day not a big issue.







CONCLUSIONS
The final average score for the Enzo Birk 75 is 7,2/10.
As I wrote, I was a bit disappointed about cardboard, plastic and ropes cutting, but I must say a different kind of sharpening (read: microserrations) should solve the problem.
All in all, the Birk 75 is a fairly good knife: has a clean look, is comfortable to handle and to carry, is robust, is easy to clean, is reliable. In few words, a nice EDC folding knife.



Cheers,
Alfredo Doricchi